Anuj Dal is looking to ramp up his pre-season preparations when he heads to Sri Lanka on Sunday with the Nottinghamshire Academy.
Dal is part of a 16-man squad set to test themselves in the subcontinent with the tour designed to give players exposure to alien conditions and the Kookaburra ball.
And 19-year-old Dal is excited about the prospect of testing himself in the different cricketing conditions in the land of Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara.
“We have a strong group of lads going on the tour and the opportunity offers the players a chance to ramp up their pre-season training,” said Dal.
“The games and training sessions are further chances to ensure that when the season comes around in April, we are all able to hit the ground running.
“There is a core of lads that have been together for a couple of years and some young talent coming on the tour with us, so it is an exciting time.”
The squad will take on sides from the Airforce and the Army during their week and a half in the country, with numerous training sessions scheduled around the two games.
And Dal is looking to use the tour to build on a successful 2015, in which he played six matches in the team that won the Second XI Championship, and also to work on his seam bowling.
“This whole trip is about getting into form in outdoor conditions and being able to translate that into early season matches,” he said.
“My main aims for the upcoming season are to kick on from last year, trying to consistently score in a number of games and bowl a little more than I did last year, to add that extra string to my bow.”
Academy squad to tour Sri Lanka: Ben Kitt, Anuj Dal, Tom Keast, Connor Marshall, Jack Blatherwick, Tim Wyatt, Alex Aldred, Lyndon James, Anis Raza, Chris Gibson, Liam Patterson-White, Riecko Parker-Cole, Joe Evison, Louis Bhabra, Hassan Chaudry, Neil Rock.
The 2015 season saw dramatic last-gasp four day victories, thrilling limited-overs contests and an historic Investec Ashes Test, all in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge.
Next season, we’d wager, will be no less enthralling and frankly we’d hate for you to miss out.